I/O | ||||
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Released | 1 December 2023 | |||
Recorded | April 1995 – December 2022 | |||
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Length | 68:09 (bright-side mix) 68:34 (dark-side mix) 68:34 (in-side mix) 205:17 (total) | |||
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Producer |
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Peter Gabriel chronology | ||||
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Singles from I/O | ||||
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I/O (stylised as i/o) is the tenth studio album[a] by English singer-songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel, released on 1 December 2023 through Real World Records.[2][3][4] It is Gabriel's first album of new original material since Up (2002), marking the longest gap between studio albums in his career. I/O features 12 tracks, each with two different mixes labeled the "Bright-Side Mix" and "Dark-Side Mix". It is also Gabriel's longest studio album of original material, with the mixes clocking in at over 68 minutes each and the total project lasting over two hours. An additional "In-Side Mix" of the album (in surround sound/Dolby Atmos) appears on versions which include the Blu-ray audio disc.
I/O had been in the works for nearly three decades (27 years and eight months), with its initial production dating back to April 1995, at around the same time Gabriel began recording Up.[2][5][6] He began planning the follow-up to Up as early as 2000 and had originally intended to release it in 2004, but the album was repeatedly delayed, reworked and re-recorded at seven recording studios (and one arena during soundchecks while on tour with Sting in 2016) before its completion in December 2022.[2] This was due to Gabriel focusing on other projects such as his two orchestral albums Scratch My Back (2010) and New Blood (2011), which contained covers of songs by other artists and rearrangements of his older material, respectively.[2]
Beginning in January 2023, Gabriel released a new single every full moon, with its alternative mix released on the following new moon, culminating in the album's release at the end of the year; this replicates the 2010 double-sided single releases in promotion of And I'll Scratch Yours (2013). He has stated that he will release more songs in this format following the album's release. I/O received positive reviews from music critics, with praise being particularly directed towards Gabriel's vocals and songwriting. The album was also Gabriel's first to top the UK Albums Chart since So in 1986.[7]
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